Maggie Miller eBook

“Not with anybody here,” answered Theo,
her nose slightly elevated at the thought of people
whom she had been educated to despise.

“Why not here as well as elsewhere?” asked
Maggie. “I don’t see any difference.
But grandma needn’t be troubled, for such things
as men’s boots never come near our house.
It’s a shame, though,” she continued,
“that we don’t know anybody, either male
or female. Let’s go down to Worcester some
day, and get acquainted. Don’t you remember
the two handsome young men whom we saw five years
ago in Douglas’ store, and how they winked at
each other when grandma ran down their goods and said
there were not any darning needles fit to use this
side of the water?”

On most subjects Theo’s memory was treacherous,
but she remembered perfectly well the two young men,
particularly the taller one, who had given her a remnant
of blue ribbon which he said was just the color of
her eyes. Still, the idea of going to Worcester
did not strike her favorably. “She wished
Worcester would come to them,” she said, “but
she should not dare to go there. They would surely
get lost. Grandma would not like it, and Mrs.
Jeffrey would not let them go, even if they wished.”

“A fig for Mrs. Jeffrey,” said Maggie.
“I shan’t mind her much. I’m
going to have a real good time, doing as I please,
and if you are wise you’ll have one too.”

“I suppose I shall do what you tell me to—­I
always do,” answered Theo submissively, and
there the conversation ceased.

Arrived at home they found dinner awaiting them, and
Maggie, when seated, suggested to Mrs. Jeffrey that
she should give them a vacation of a few weeks, just
long enough for them to get rested and visit the neighbors.
But this Mrs. Jeffrey refused to do.

She had her orders to keep them at their books, she
said, and “study was healthful”; at the
same time she bade them be in the schoolroom on the
morrow. There was a wicked look in Maggie’s
eyes, but her tongue told no tales, and when next
morning she went with Theo demurely to the schoolroom
she seemed surprised at hearing from Mrs. Jeffrey that
every book had disappeared from the desk where they
were usually kept; and though the greatly disturbed
and astonished lady had sought for them nearly an
hour, they were not to be found.

“Maggie has hidden them, I know,” said
Theo, as she saw the mischievous look on her sister’s
face.

“Margaret wouldn’t do such a thing, I’m
sure,” answered Mrs. Jeffrey, her voice and
manner indicating a little doubt, however, as to the
truth of her assertion.

But Maggie had hidden them, and no amount of coaxing
could persuade her to bring them back. “You
refused me a vacation when I asked for it,”
she said, “so I’m going to have it perforce;”
and, playfully catching up the little dumpy figure
of her governess, she carried her out upon the piazza,
and, seating her in a large easy-chair, bade her take
snuff, and comfort too, as long as she liked.